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A massive crane toppled 18 floors off a Midtown building today, killing at least four construction workers and squashing a three-story building flat.

It was unclear how many were hurt or missing. At least two men, one wearing a hardhat, were seen being taken from the scene on stretchers.

The crane sat atop a construction elevator on East 51st Street east of Second Avenue and fell south. The elevator shaft landed against a tall building across the street, but the crane and its cab continued over the roof of the structure, clipping at least two buildings before landing on top of 305 E. 50th St. That building was pulverized into rubble.

“The fire escape is the only thing left standing,” said a bewildered John LaGreco, whose Irish tavern, Fubar, was on the ground floor of the crushed building. “Unbelievable.”

Witnesses at street level said the crane began making creaking sounds moments before the collapse around 2 p.m., possibly providing a lifesaving warning to crowds of pub crawlers who had begun celebrating St. Patrick’s Day early.

“It was like one minute of metal scraping against itself and it gave people a chance to run,” said Edgar Vargas, 30, a parking-lot attendant at a garage down the street. “Then there was just a loud bang and then I saw it falling over, hitting the building and the cab falling on the other side.”

Witnesses said the structure peeled slowly away from the building under construction, a 44-story condo.

“I saw the crane coming down. It was surreal, slow,” said Chris Bianchi, 40, who owns a bar on the street. “When it landed, it was like an earthquake. We ran out. The dust was like the World Trade Center.”

A woman who lives in the building left moments before it was destroyed.

“I just left the building a minute ago. All I know is, when I turned around, I saw brown smoke. I thought it was a bomb,” she said, trembling and with tears streaming down her face.

A witness said that after the collapse, water spurted violently out of the rubble and the streets were filled with a strong smell of gas.

It appeared that most of the tenants of the building had gotten out, but one, John Fernandez, was unaccounted for.

Rodriguez said his sister had tried to raise her husband several times after that, but was unsuccessful. It was unclear if Fernandez, a father of three children, had been rescued.

LaGreco said his bar had not yet opened at the time of the collapse. He was unsure if his porter, Juan Perez, had been in the building at the time.

“The firefighters said they are digging through the rubble looking for someone and they think it could be Juan,” LaGreco said.

There were two apartments and two offices above his bar, he said.

Multiple buildings on 50th and 51st streets appeared to have suffered damage. At least one six-story building had parts of three floors torn open, exposing the apartments within. Another building rained debris into the courtyard behind it.

Officials evacuated several buildings and shut off gas to at least seven of them, officials said.

Emily Ryan, 24, who lives nearby, was standing out in the street wearing her slippers and sweatpants after her building was evacuated.

“I looked out the window and saw the crane and ran for my life,” she said.